ABUL ABBAS AS SAFFAH

Abdullah bin Muhammad ibn Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas was the first caliph of the Abbasid Dynasty. He
was born in Hamimah in 104 H. His mother was Rabtah bint Abaidillah al-Haritsi, while his father,
Muhammad bin Ali, was the one who carried out the movement to establish the government of the
Abbasids.

Abdullah bin Muhammad was given the title of as-saffah (blood diverter) because he became a threater
and drained blood for those who opposed him, especially the Umayyads and their supporters. In some
narrations it is mentioned that the title of as-saffah was given by people because he slaughtered the
descendants of the Umayyads. This was caused by his great grudge, so that he coldly killed offspring of
the Umayyads.

Abdullah bin Muhammad, who was later better known as Abul Abbas as-saffah, was made an allegiance
to the first Abbasid Caliph in Rabi'ul Awal 132 H in Kufa. As explained earlier, Kufah is the center of the
movement of Bani Abbas. On his next trip, he left Kufa for the Anbar area, a place on the outskirts of the
Euphrates River known as the Hashimyah which was made the center of government. Later, a capital was
known to date, Baghdad. This city became the capital of the Abbasid Dynasty.

During his leadership, Caliph Abul Abbas did not focus too much on the problems of conquering the
territory because fighting in the regions of Turkey and Central Asia continued to flare up. Not to mention
because of his busy life in an effort to internal consolidation to strengthen the pillars of the country
which until then had not been fully stable. In addition to his firmness in eliminating political opponents,
he is also famous for his generous and hard-hearted generosity and memory. Abul Abbas's policies
during the Caliphate:

• Development of the Capital City

 Caliph Abul-Abbas has thought of the construction of the capital as the main symbol of power. In 136
AH he built a new city north of the city of Anbar, on the banks of the Euphrates river, with the name
Hashimia. Previously the position of the Abbasid Caliphate was not fixed. But since the year 136H has
been officially located in Hashimia. In the past, it has only moved to a new city, Baqdad.

• Sadistic murder of the Umayyad family.

 More than 90 members of the Umayyad family were brutally massacred. At first, Abbas invited them to
attend a party at the palace, at first they were greeted with a ceremony of honor, then carried through
the streets wrapped around and when they arrived in a room, they were killed by the guards who had
been waiting there. Then there was the pursuit and murder of the remnants of the Umayyads in Syria
and Palestine.

• Extinguishing various riots.

Riots that occurred were:

 Defeated the commander-in-chief of Habib ibn Murra al-Meruwi, a commander of the Caliph
Mirwan II, until finally he begged forgiveness.
 Defeated the army commander Emul Abul Wirdi, who at first had been defended but later
disobeyed and moved the inhabitants of the fortress city of Qinissirin against the Caliph Abul-
Abbas.
 Extinguished the rebellion of the commander of Isaac ibn Muslimn al-Ukaili. The battle
continued so that Isaac suffered defeat and then begged for peace.
 Extinguish the Madain rebellion under the commander of Bissam ibn Ibrahim which is to the
east of the Tigris river in the northern part of the referee city.
 Extinguished the rebellion of the Khawarij sect under the leadership of Shaykh ibn Abdel Aziz in
the territory of Iraq.
 Unuhan The murder of Yazid ibn Amir ibn Hubairat with his family. Namely a former governor of
the Umayyad sovereignty.

• Fend off Byzantine attacks

  The Roman Empire in the Umayyad period was getting smaller. Towards the end of the
Umayyad sovereignty the Roman empire under the rule of Constatine V (741-775)
recaptured the region of Asia Minor to the territory of Cilicia on the north of Syria and
subsequently took control of the city of Malati and Maridian north of the Iraqi border. The
war that began at the time of the Caliph Abul-Abbas then continued in the time of Al-
Mansyur.

• Use of the term vizier

  Since the Abul-Abbas government was born a new term, al-Wazir (Minister) and a
government institution called al-wizarat, was responsible to the caliph and regulated in
qawaninal-wizarat, namely the basic regulation on al-wizarat. The first official in this
administration was Abu Salma Al-Khalal and was later replaced by Abul-Jahmi ibn Attiya.
 Abul Abbas's reign was very short. He became a caliph for 4 years 9 months from 750-754
AD He died on the first half Sunday of the month of Dhulhijjah 136 H because of his illness.
He died when he was only 33 years old in the city of Hasyimyah he had built. Before he died,
he appointed his brother Abu Ja'far al-manshur as his successor.